Amazon facing penalties over Iran

E-commerce giant Amazon could be facing penalties from the US Treasury, it has emerged, after it told both the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security that it had sold a variety of consumer products to individuals and unspecified groups controlled or owned by the Iranian government. The goods ranged from apparel to software to pet products and cost $50 to about $2,400, according to the filing, and mean that Amazon has in all probability contravened the Iran Threat Reduction Action signed by former President Barack Obama in 2012 to strengthen trade restrictions on Iran and try to persuade it to stop its nuclear activities. In January 2016, the U.S. lifted some of the economic sanctions tied to the nuclear program.The transactions appear to have came to light during an internal review which a spokesperson described as “ongoing” and which highlights the nervousness currently sweeping corporate America about the Trump administration taking an increasingly hard line towards companies doing business with Iran.